question on egg bound veiled

[carm]

hello,

I am new to the forum. I have an ever growing collection of reptiles. I have had a male veiled for several years and just recently got a female (not to breed). the person I got her from stated she was about 2 years old. I picked her up just over a week ago and believe she is full of eggs. I have done some research and she is showing the coloration of being full of eggs and I can see bulges along her leggs. She has spent the last few days at the bottom of her enclosure. I have put in a bucket full of moist sand for her to dig in with no luck. she crawls around amlessly and spends almost no time on the viens. She has not eat in several days but I have managed to get some water into her. Any idea's on when I should start to worry that she may be eggbound?

any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[sandrachameleon]

Does the laying bin take up the whole floor of the cage? is she pacing the laying bin or can she get lower down? If the top of the sand in the laying bin is not the lowest point in the cage, you could stuff some towels around the laying bin such that it becomes the low point.
You could start a tunnel for her, see if that helps encourage her.
Try not to let her see you spying on her, as that could make her feel unsecure.

 

[carm]

it is slightly higher than the bedding of the cage. it takes up about 1/3 of it. i have tried puting her in it and have already made a small hole hoping she would figure it out. I had checked with the previous owner and she has never laid eggs before. I try not to check on her often, I can usually hear her digging around in the bark.

 

[carm]

I can build up the rest of the bedding to have the container with sand be even with it or lower. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Once you've gotten her through the laying process, You can get rid of the bark bedding. A total absence of any substrate is recommended. I suspect she is trying to dig a tunnel in the bark bedding, which of course is not going to work. Perhaps use towels to cover the bedding and make the laying bin the obvious option for her.

Some people recommended removing the chameleon from her normal cage and putting her in a container specifically just for laying in. For example a high walled dark plastic tub with sand on the bottom, or a plastic trash can (clean of course) with sand in the bottom and just one stick stuck in the sand.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Other pages worth a quick read:

http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=111
https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-gravid-female-19771/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-girls-not-laying-19755/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-often-do-you-19728/

 

[carm]

the bucket is a fabulous idea. I will do that tonight. I know she is probably a little stressed due to the change of scenery also which I am sure is adding to things. Being that I can see the eggs along her back legs sticking out, what would you suggest is the time frame that she should be laying eggs? I really don't want to get into her being egg bound.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I knew her having eggs was likely to happen, I just did not expect it to be within the first two weeks so I am a little unprepared and nervous about it. I know she has not been with a male and that the eggs will be duds which I am ok with. Once I have had to deal with egg laying with her I will be good to go.

 

[kinyonga]

I use a 65 liter rubbermaid container. I cut a large hole in the lid and cover it with screen. I fill the rubbermaid about 14" deep with washed playsand that has been moistened so it will hold a tunnel. I add a branch so the female has somewhere to sit when not digging. I put the female in and put the (screened) lid on and place a light over the screen being careful not to use a light that will overheat the container. She can be watered by misting the sides of the container down.

You can put the female in without the lid on (while you work on the lid) as long as the branch doesn't come up too high. This will mean that you can get her in there while she is still in the mood to dig. (You don't want to delay her when she's in the digging "mode".) You can lay a fluorescent light across the bin...it would be safer...unlikely that she would get burned by it if she tried to escape before you got the lid finished to put on the container.

Good luck!